Prince Andrew made a public statement on Sunday following the release of a 2010 video showing him at financier Jeffrey Epstein's mansion, saying he was "appalled" by the recent accusations of sexual abuse lobbed at his former friend.

Epstein, 66, died by apparent suicide last week while he was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan as he awaited trial for sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carried a jail sentence of up to 45 years.

The connections between Epstein and Prince Andrew have resurfaced in recent weeks, after unsealed documents, made public this month, allege that the British royal made sexual advances on young women recruited for him by Epstein's former girlfriend and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

The two women named in the incident, Johanna Sjoberg and Virginia Roberts Giuffre, previously alleged to have been recruited by Epstein's associates to perform massages that quickly devolved into sexual abuse, Giuffre at age 15.

Prince Andrew said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace Sunday that allegations that he was involved in any "exploitation" are "abhorrent."

"The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes," the statement said.

"His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent."

The royal statement follows a video released by the Daily Mail on Sunday reportedly taken outside Epstein's Manhattan home in December 2010, which shows the Duke briefly peering out and waving from behind the mansion's front door.

Controversial footage has emerged of Prince Andrew at convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's New York mansion, two years after the billionaire was convicted of sex trafficking. #9Todaypic.twitter.com/xiHOAZB5MK

According to the Daily Mail, the footage was taken less than an hour after Epstein left the house with a young blonde woman. The duke was also photographed strolling alongside Epstein in Central Park in 2010.